The Yandex Go team has published its third comprehensive report on e-scooter trip safety, summarizing five years of service operation and the recently concluded 2026 season. According to company data, 1 billion rubles has been directed toward improving safety over the past five years. A key metric — the number of incidents per 100,000 trips — has decreased by 30% compared to 2025, which the company attributes to a complex of technological and organizational measures implemented during the reporting period.
Restricted Zones and Fine System
Over five years, the service has created 4,490 slow-speed and no-go zones in parks, squares, and other public spaces. In slow-speed zones, scooters automatically reduce their speed, while in no-go zones, they stop completely, eliminating traffic in areas with high pedestrian density. For users who violate the rules, speed restrictions of up to 20 km/h or total rental blocking are applied. In the 2026 season, Yandex Go issued about 120,000 fines: 62% of them were related to incorrect parking, 21% to riding in pairs, and 10% to minors operating scooters.
In-house Scooter Model and Driver Training
The company has developed its own electric scooter model, in which a shortened platform makes riding in pairs difficult, and an additional support ensures balance. Side lights are installed on board to signal braking, increasing the predictability of the scooter's behavior for other traffic participants. In parallel, the service has developed a safe driving training program: 12 million people have completed it over five years, which, according to company estimates, contributed to a 30% reduction in accident rates per 100,000 trips.
Age Verification via Photo: 751,000 Rental Denials
One of the key tools for combating underage riding has been photo-based age verification, which was extended to all 190 cities where the service operates in the 2026 season. During the season, verification was requested from 1.15 million users; as a result, 751,000 people were denied access to rentals. In 2027, Yandex Go intends to expand age verification via the "Gosuslugi" portal to additional regions and also add age confirmation via the Max messenger, which should improve identification accuracy and reduce the number of false positives.
Context: What Lies Behind the Numbers
The Yandex Go report comes against the backdrop of an ongoing discussion about the regulation of electric transport in Russian cities. The five-year period during which the service invested 1 billion rubles in safety covers the phase of active growth in the number of scooters in cities and the formation of a regulatory framework. The company interprets the 30% year-on-year decrease in the incident rate as a result of a cumulative effect: from hardware limitations on scooters to digital age control mechanisms and a penalty system. Independent verification of the indicators cited in the report is not provided; all data are self-reported and reflect the service's internal statistics.
